Mark Read ‘The Woman Who Rides Like A Man’: Chapter 2

In the second chapter of The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Alanna faces her combat opponent, and WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT CLIFFHANGER? Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.

Chapter 2: The Bloody Hawk

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON

• Okay, this is somewhat unrelated to chapter two, but I saw the cover for the Kindle version of this book today, and what the hell. It’s horrific. I guess I didn’t pay attention to the other two? Anyway, why do the models on the cover look like they shop at H&M? It makes no sense.
• No, you’re kidding me. Just after Alanna killed Roger in a battle, she’s got to possibly kill someone else. And you can tell she is not having this. It’s been four weeks since Roger died, Alanna has not learned to cope with what she did, and now SHE HAS TO KILL SOMEONE ELSE TO SURVIVE. This book is already fucked up.
• “Unlike the sorcerer-duke, she did not hate this tribesman.” I love that Pierce addresses this and later states that despite that Alanna hated Roger, she was still torn up over killing him.
• “He was sweating, and Alanna could feel the fear rolling off him. Teach him to think a woman’s an easy opponent, she thought as she lunged in.” HI, I’M MARK, I LOVE THIS BOOK AND IT’S MESSAGES.
• THIS FIGHT IS SO GODDAMN BRUTAL. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but good god.
• Alanna does not take death lightly, and I adore that Pierce makes this a part of her characterization. Despite that she does struggle with her gender presentation, she doesn’t feel the need to kill anyone to prove herself to the men in her life.
• Alanna shrugs in the face of the shaman’s bigotry. Bless her.
• OKAY, LOOK, I TOTALLY GET THAT IT IS A MAGICAL THING, BUT IT IS TOTALLY REVOLTING TO ME ANYTIME THERE IS A TRANSFERENCE OF BLOOD FOR A CEREMONY OR A CUSTOM. THIS IS JUST MY THING, Y’ALL, I CANNOT DEAL WITH PEOPLE SWAPPING BLOOD. IT TERRIFIES ME.
• The entire time Kourrem and Kara grilled Alanna, I couldn’t help but think, “YOU CAN’T JUST ASK SOMEONE WHY THEY’RE WHITE.”
• It’s totally fascinating to me that the two outsiders in the tribe, Kourrem and Kara, are intrinsically drawn to Alanna. They recognize that she must be an outsider from where she came from, even if they don’t ever vocalize it. They’re utterly entranced by her presence and intrigued by the journey she’s been on to get where she is now. They share part of their culture with Alanna. The conversation borders on being a little bit reverent on their part, but I think that Pierce strays from making this too much like a Dances With Wolves scenario. You know, person from a more “civilized” culture comes to educate those lowly noble savages! While I’m unsure of the ultimate end for this story, I liked that these three girls could talk about being girls for a brief moment, and I look forward to more from them.
• Okay, the shaman tried to kill Faithful. I am having none of this dude.
• Oh shit, did he just try to kill Halef Seif with that crystal sword??? WHO IS THIS GUY???
• WHAT THE FUCK, WHY DOES THE CRYSTAL SWORD HAVE THE SAME SYMBOLS AS DUKE ROGER’S WIZARD ROD DID? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?
• I wish it was longer, but I loved the section where Alanna converses with Faithful about whether she made the right choice in killing Duke Roger. Thank you for exploring this, Pierce. It’s so satisfying to read.
• Oh, the Voice of the Tribes is like the leader of the Bazhir, but he’s far more mystical than that. He knows everything that has happened with his people and uses that supreme knowledge to judge each member of the tribe.
• oh
• OH.
• OH MY GOD, THE VOICE OF THE TRIBES IS ALI MUKHTAB FROM ALANNA. OKAY, THIS IS A FANTASTIC TWIST, I AM 100% IN SUPPORT OF ALI COMING BACK TO THE SERIES.
• Seriously, he’s such a rad character, and he’s made EVEN MORE AWESOME in chapter two of The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. He’s reasonable, he’s got a sense of humor, and he’s kind. Well, now I know ONE reason why he treats Alanna well, but I’ll get there.
• “Men don’t think any differently from women – they just make more noise about being able to.”
• 100% DONE FOREVER. I JUST SLOW-CLAPPED THE FUCK OUT OF THAT SENTENCE. Oh my god, this is so much fun to read.
• “Have you not discovered that when people, men and women, find a woman who acts intelligently, they say she acts like a man?”
• HOLY FUCK, A DISCUSSION OF THE DEMONIZATION OF FEMININITY IN THIS BOOK. I can’t. I can’t. Oh god, I wish this was longer.
• I love that Ali and his people literally wrote out the history of the Bazhir. I thought that whole bit in Alanna was disposable.
• “Before I complete my last illness, Prince Jonathan must become the Voice of the Tribes.”
• wha
• what
• what
• This is a joke.
• That
• That cannot be real.
• This is not happening.
• What the fuck?!?!?!!?

IT’S A JOKE, RIGHT? RIGHT???

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